Flat Racing

Horse racing is filled with vibrant colour and movement. It seemed like a natural progression from painting horses in polo, so I turned to the Racing Post and the Guardian sports section and found various images to start working from. Painting from pictures that I hadn't taken myself was a departure for me, as there were areas that were ambiguous and I had to rely on artistic license or a sense of composition to make artistic decisions. I jotted down the name of the image on the newspaper but didn't give it much more thought. I now cannot enter these images in competitions as despite my best effort, I couldn't locate the original photographer to ask for copyright. I shan't be doing that again!

Odds on!

Oil on board

18” x 24”

General Eliott

Bunditten at Sandown

Duntulm at Newmarket

Dogs

I absolutely love dogs. I am passionate about rescuing dogs, and have had a few from Spain and now Portugal. This passion extends to doing drawings and paintings of them. I do commissions. It usually involves a meeting, some photographs, sketches and eventually a portrait.

Benji

A painting of Matt's Jack Russell Benji. Oil on canvas.

Lydia

A small painting of my German Shepherd Lydia.

Eric

A painting of Mark and Millie's wonderful Tibetan terrier Eric. Oil on canvas.

Morris

Oil on canvas.

Orca and Worcester

This is an oil painting I did as a wedding gift for my friends’ Polly and Chris of their dogs Orca and Worcester. Painting black dogs was a real challenge and Polly eventually found the perfect spot on a sunny step outside.

Portraits & Life Paintings

I've been sketching portraits for years. I started as a child doing pictures of everything and everyone around me. I then took a portraiture diploma at Heatherley's School of Art and I started doing oil paintings of people and animals. I have included mostly images of sitters from my time at Heatherley's here, and there is a self-portrait of me with cars. Somewhere I have all the names of the different sitters and I will add them when I find them!

Matt with flu

Emmanuel

Man in the yellow jacket

Oil on canvas.

Man in the yellow jacket

Oil studies on paper.

Self-portrait with cars

Oil on canvas.

Dede and Zoe

Oil on canvas.

Luka

Print on paper.

Self-portrait

Print on paper.

Cats

I was given my first commission to paint a cat for my sister’s best friend’s wedding. I travelled to the East End to meet and photograph Pablo. He was very compliant despite having a few strange traits when eyeing the birds in their garden.

Pablo

A painting of Pablo looking out at the birds from the kitchen table at Charley's. Oil on canvas.

Beach Polo

In 2008 I was watching the BBC News and they mentioned the first British Beach Polo Championships at Sandbanks in Poole, Dorset, was taking place in July. I contacted them and asked if I could get a press pass to take some pictures. I had a fantastic day taking several hundred pictures and did a few sketches, which turned into a series of five paintings and some oil sketches.

Sandbanks I

Oil on board

Sandbanks II

Oil on board

Sandbanks III

Oil on board

Sandbanks IV

Oil on board

Sandbanks V

Oil on board

Sandbanks VI

Oil sketch, oil on board

Sandbanks VII

Oil sketch, oil on board

Sandbanks VIII

Oil sketch, oil on board

Jump Racing

I've divided horse racing into two sections 'Jump' racing and 'Flat' racing. There is definitely a different colour palette and rhythm to each. Again these were taken from photographs and cuttings found in the press. I cannot pretend I took these amazing photographs myself!

Grand National I

Oil on board, 24” x 36”

Grand National II

Oil on board, 24” x 36”

Grand National III

Oil on board, 32” x 48”

Grand National finish

Oil on board, 32" x 48"

Little Shilling

Oil sketch, oil on board

Little Shilling

Oil sketch II, oil on board

Little Shilling

Oil on board, 24” x 36”

Steeple Aston Folly Lithographs & Sketches

I started drawing and taking pictures of the folly known as the ‘Eyecatcher’ in 2011 when my father died. It is on a hill and has amazing views all the way round.

According to the listed buildings website: “It was built c.1740 by William Kent. It is made of Naristone rubble with squared dressings. A folly in the form of a high wall, the top of which rises over three graduated arched openings and is ornamented with 11 rubble pinnacles. The front has shallow buttresses, and there are large raking buttresses to rear. The Eyecatcher stands on the skyline of the principal view from Rousham Park, and forms an important feature of Kent's landscape design, It is one of the earliest examples of a sham ruin.”

During my walks around the folly, the landscape changed constantly throughout the day and with the change of seasons. I did a lithography course at the Oxford Printmakers and produced a limited edition of six prints. I’ve included all sketches and lithographs here.

Eyecatcher 16

Monoprint over lithograph.

Eyecatcher 7

Monoprint over lithograph.

Eyecatcher 8

Monoprint over lithograph.

Eyecatcher 13

Monoprint over lithograph.

Eyecatcher 17

Monoprint over lithograph.

Eyecatcher 18

Monoprint over lithograph.

Eyecatcher in the rape.

Charcoal on paper.

Eyecatcher Lithograph

First Lithograph.

Eyecatcher from the sheep field.

Acrylic on canvas paper.

Eyecatcher through the trees.

Pen and watercolour.

Steeple Aston Folly Drypoints & Monoprints

I started drawing and taking pictures of the folly known as the ‘Eyecatcher’ in 2011 when my father died. It is on a hill and has amazing views all the way round.

According to the listed buildings website: “It was built c.1740 by William Kent. It is made of Naristone rubble with squared dressings. A folly in the form of a high wall, the top of which rises over three graduated arched openings and is ornamented with 11 rubble pinnacles. The front has shallow buttresses, and there are large raking buttresses to rear. The Eyecatcher stands on the skyline of the principal view from Rousham Park, and forms an important feature of Kent's landscape design, It is one of the earliest examples of a sham ruin.”

During my walks around the folly, the landscape changed constantly throughout the day and with the change of seasons. I used sketches to develop two plates, one using a view from Cow Lane looking up, the other looking behind the folly towards Rousham. I then did a series of drypoints, watercolours and monoprints. Each print is unique which is why they don’t have numbers.

Cow Lane 15

Eyecatcher, view from Cow Lane, Monoprint.

Towards Rousham 6

Eyecatcher, view towards Rousham, Drypoint.

Cow Lane 10

Eyecatcher, view from Cow Lane, Drypoint.

Towards Rousham 1

Eyecatcher, view towards Rousham, Drypoint.

Cow Lane 16

Eyecatcher, view from Cow Lane, Drypoint with Monoprint.

Towards Rousham 4

Eyecatcher, view towards Rousham, Drypoint.

Towards Rousham 3

Eyecatcher, view towards Rousham, Drypoint with watercolour.

Towards Rousham 3

Eyecatcher, view towards Rousham, Drypoint.

Cow Lane 11

Eyecatcher, view from Cow Lane, Drypoint with Monoprint

Cow Lane 1

Eyecatcher, view from Cow Lane, Drypoint.

Towards Rousham 10

Eyecatcher, view towards Rousham, Monoprint.

Towards Rousham 7

Eyecatcher, view towards Rousham, Drypoint (ghost).

Cow Lane 9

Eyecatcher, view from Cow Lane, Monoprint.

Cow Lane 18

Eyecatcher, view from Cow Lane, Monoprint.

Cow Lane 12

Eyecatcher, view from Cow Lane, Drypoint with Monoprint.

Grass Polo

My brother Will played grass polo and didn’t have his drivers license so I drove him a couple of times to Kirtlington and took pictures, brought my sketchbook along. This developed into a whole new series of oil paintings and led to me painting horses in horse racing as well.

Kirtlingon IV

Oil on board, 18” x 24”

This painting was selected by the American Society of Equestrian Artists to go to their exhibition at the Kentucky Horse Museum.

Kirtlington V

Oil on board, 18” x 24”

Kirtlington VI

Oil on board, 18” x 24”

Kirtlington III

Oil on board, 32” x 48”

La Mariposa

Oil on paper, 23” x 33”

Kirtlington

Oil on board, 32” x 48”

Parrots & other exotic animals

Loulou is the only pet parrot I’ve ever painted and I'm hoping to be painting other animals, either wild or domestic. I took several photos of Loulou, Stephen and Fabrice's parrot, and am really pleased with the outcome. Funnily enough, when she was sent away on holiday for the summer, Fabrice kept the painting in her cage to pretend she was there!

Loulou

Stephen & Fabrice's much loved parrot Loulou. Oil on board.

Loulou sketch

Oil on board

Landscapes

In this section I’ve included all the landscapes that don’t feature the folly! I took some very inspiring pictures and did some sketches down by the canal in Heyford. The gnarly willow trees are wonderful to draw and etch.

Folly field towards Upper Heyford

Oil on board, 6’ x 4’

Dinas Head, Pembrokeshire

Graphite on paper

Lower Heyford canal

Drypoint with watercolour

Lower Heyford canal

Drypoint

Lower Heyford canal at sunset

Drypoint with watercolour.

Rapeseed overlooking Upper Heyford

Charcoal on paper

Rapeseed overlooking Upper Heyford

Acrylic on canvas paper

Dressage

Since deciding to do Artweeks this year, I wanted to challenge myself in a different way so have chosen ‘dressage’ as my new theme. It is definitely a challenge! I wanted to see if by doing a very tight, almost technical drawing, I would be able to then paint loosely. Once I completed the drawings on board of the four images I had chosen, I then realised all that detail would be lost. I decided to trace them and etch them so that I could try different printmaking techniques. There are four original oil paintings and a series of drypoints with watercolour. I expect there will be more to follow but these are the eight I included in my Artweeks exhibit at Stansfield & Hoole back in May.